Sunday, June 7, 2009

It's 2:21 am and I can't sleep. I'm hot and I'm itchy and I'm waiting for my allergy medicine to kick in. The big question is what caused this attack? Was it just time for one since the allergies have been so well controlled lately? Or is it the new anti-inflammatory that my podiatrist prescribed? I admit to being allergic to anti-inflammatories as a general rule, but I used to be able to take this one without any problem. That's the problem with allergies - they change without warning.

So why is a podiatrist prescribing me medicine? Well, because I fell off a ladder awhile back, which made my heel hurt. When I finally broke down and went to the doctor, they discovered a heel spur. It seems my high arches and flat feet have conspired against me once again and the fall aggravated the condition. So I've been warned to wear supportive shoes, do exercises, and stay off my feet for a few weeks. Plus take the medicine. It took me a few days to make it to the pharmacy to get the prescription and thankfully I still had it in my purse Friday.

Because on Friday, I ended up calling them for emergency advice. The girls and I were out when L ran up to a door and stopped waiting for someone to open the door for her. When I did, we discovered that it was the perfect height to swing right over her flip-flop and toe and into her big toe nail, completely lifting it straight up.

*shudder*

I took her back to the car, wrapped her foot in a sterile pad from the first aid kit, sent K inside for a bag of ice, and pulled that prescription out of my purse to call the podiatrist. I mean, what do you do about something like that? Urgent care? Emergency room? Just bandage it and go on? I figured the podiatrist would know.

She said to bring her right to her. I now love my podiatrist.

I carted the girls over to her office where she examined it and said that we needed to do nothing but keep it bandaged until the toenail falls off on its own.

Again, *shudder*.

That could happen anywhere from 4 days to a month. Then we wait for about 9 months for her toenail to regrow to see if the cells that grow toenails were damaged. Hopefully, they're fine and her nail will come back in smooth and perfect.

After the first few minutes of initial screaming, L has been perfectly okay with the whole thing. On the way to the doctor, she was laughing and chatting. At the office, she watched as the doctor checked her out, answering that no, it didn't hurt, when the doctor pushed on the top and end of her toe. She's been running, jumping, and swimming without missing a beat, though she now has to wear closed-toed shoes and swimshoes to keep the bandage on.

She's doing much better than her mother who cringes every time she has to put a new band-aid on that toe.

It's 2:49 am and my skin has finally calmed down, so I am going back to bed. Good night.